Vimala Wijewardene (1908–1985) was a Ceylonese politician and the country’s first female cabinet minister. She is known as one of the suspects arrested by the police in connection with the assassination of Prime Minister of Sri Lanka S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1959.
Following the death of her older sister, Vimala (at the age of sixteen) married her sister’s widower, Don Charles Wijewardene (1893-1956), the fifth son of Don Philip Tudugala Wijewardene, a timber merchant of Sedavatta, and Helena Dep (née Weerasinghe) and younger brother of newspaper magnate Don Richard. They had three children, Ananda, Padmini and Rukmani.
She was one of the owners of the famous Adisham Bungalow. Named after Adisham, it was designed by R. Booth and F. Webster in Tudor and Jacobean style, on 10 acres (40,000 m2) of land. Adisham Hall played host to many prominent personalities of the colony until the retirement of Sir Thomas, after which it was sold to Sedawatte Mills owned by Vimala Wijewardene in 1949
In 1961 it was purchased by the Roman Catholic Church and was subsequently converted to a monastery. The house is well preserved along with its period fittings and furniture and is open to visitors.
Just before you leave, we at eLanka want to ensure we can keep you up-to-date with all good news stories about Sri Lankan Expats in Australia and Globally as well as other relevant news about Sri Lanka. So, if you wish to receive our Newsletter twice a week, then please fill in your Name & Email in this form. Thank you!
No Comments